Hell Is What You Make It
by Black Dragon of the Bayou
Summary: A young boy lost in a strange city decides to give up on life and allow himself to die...but someone decides to give him a second chance. Narutocentered AU, many apologies for the long delay!
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: _Damn, not one, but two of my favorite basketball teams got whipped over the weekend...not a banner day for the Ole War Skule. (if want to know what that means, just ask later...) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this. I've sort of gone on hiatus for a bit from the YGO sectionand decided to give some Naruto fanfiction writing a try. I may be rusty with my spelling so please forgive me and report any errors you see. Thank you.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto or any other characters/products/corporate entities that are mentioned in this fic. I DO, however, own the plot of this fic. If I catch a copycat...well, you know how that goes.**

**Author's Note: This fic is set in an alternate universe. There's your advance warning...**

**_Hell is what you make it_**

**_By: Black Dragon of the Bayou_**

**_Chapter One_**

Dirty.

Tired.

Hungry.

Those were just three adjectives the young boy could use to describe himself at this point. His unruly blonde hair was soiled with dirt and oil. His clothes (it would be polite to call the rags he had on clothes) were tattered beyond repair. His body reeked with an odor so strong some passers-by would stare at the boy in utter disbelief or strong contempt. He had no idea where he was. His house was burned to the ground several years earlier, and he'd been wandering from town to town, village to village, ever since. This was his first time in a city so big, and all the bright lights and cars and booming music were so strange to him. All of the people seemed to be in a rush, and hardly any gave the boy a second thought.

As he wandered deeper into the city, he thought about his life. He knew nothing about friendship. Family? Love? Merely words he had heard people babble during his travels. He had no idea what either meant. He knew only the meaning of one word:**_ survival_**. By whatever means he could, the young boy managed to survive on his own for the last six and a half years. But now that survival was endangered. His stomach desperately growled for food, but none could be found. Even the trash cans and dumpsters turned up nothing that could be safely eaten.

He staggered into a new alley where people were laughing, drinking, shooting dice. None of them so much as gave the boy an afterthought. Still no food. Damn, he was going to die if he couldn't find something.The boy clenched his abdomen as he felt the hunger pains and fatigue start to take hold again. His vision was becoming blurry. His breathing heavy. Where? Where can I find something to eat, he wondered. As he trudged on, he noticed that his feet were bleeding. The soles of his shoes had been worn out long before he entered the city. Now the pavement and various pieces of glass and metal were starting to tear at the skin of his feet.

Food? Where is some **_FOOD_**? He wiped his forehead with his hand, taking some of the dirt off of his face. Now he was really starting to feel the pain. He yelped as he fell over and knocked over a trash can, causing some dogs to bark at the commotion.

So...this is where I die, he thought. He looked up at the sky. It was a surprisingly cool evening in the middle of spring, which was made cooler with small drops of rain beginning to land all over him. The pain was starting to fade seemingly and the boy felt his world start to go black. The boy for one reason or anothre began to smile, his eyes fixed on the sky. He thought about some of the myths and religions of places he had visited. Some said you would be reunited with your lost loved ones in a world free of pain and suffering. He thought about his parents. He didn't know them, but was told of them. Would he see them in this new world he had heard so much about?

The boy pushed the thought aside and started to embrace his fate. Although he couldn't feel anything in his arms or legs, he was happy that he didn't feel any more pain. With a sad, but content, smile on his face, the boy closed his eyes one last time...

Or so he thought.

**_Well? Was it crap? Was it excellent? Was it excellent crap? Please leave a review for me on your way out. Who knows, if I get some positive ones, I'll probably continue. Take care, people!_**

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**_GOOD NIGHT NOW!_**


	2. Chapter 2

A_**/N: What is up, people? Thanks to all who have reviewed so far, and if you're reading this fic and not reviewing thanks anyway! I'm just kinda surprised that anyone is actually reading something I wrote anyway. Now, I know I've been kinda shady with details so far, but rest assured that I'll get started on answering some of your questions this chapter (at least, that's what I hope). Now grab a cool beverage, kick back, and enjoy!**_

**Hell Is What You Make It**

**By: Black Dragon of the Bayou**

**Chapter Two**

_A young boy (barely six years old), happy and free, ran down the side of a grassy hill. He didn't have a care in the world. The sky was sunny and blue, the birds were singing, and the water on the river nearby was crystal clear. As the boy approached the place that he called home, he noticed that something was different. Something was wrong. His mother wasn't hanging out their family laundry on the side of the house. His father wasn't carrying home fish that he caught from the river. He looked over at the little house that they lived in (a pretty crude structure that was built with dried grass, wood and mud) and notice that it was in flames. "Mama?" He called for his mother, but got nothing for a reply. The boy, his spiky blond hair covered with a cap that his mother had just finished for him that day, felt tears welling up in his ocean blue eyes. "Papa?" They weren't responding. He looked for them for hours, trying to locate them in the countryside near his house, but he found nothing. Even after the fire that had consumed his house finally went out, he couldn't find a signof them there. That night, Naruto Uzumaki, cried himself to sleep. He was cold, hungry and alone..._

"He's waking up."

Naruto was starting to come to. The last thing that he remembered was laying in the street being pelted by rain...then that dream. He was so exhausted, so near death, that he wasn't sure whether or not he was still alive or was in some new world. He raised his hands to rub his blurry blue eyes.

"How is he?"

Naruto looked around, searching for the owners of the two voices. One seemed to be that of a girl, a rather timid one at that; the othervoice seemed tobelong toa soft-spoken man. He found no sign of them. He was in a pretty run-down building with cinderblock walls, a simple window built into the side of the wall, anda concrete floor. He saw a desk, table and drawer on the other side of the room, all which appeared to be made of the same type of wood (he guessed pine).

"He looks like he'll be okay...the wounds on his legs were pretty bad, though."

Naruto looked down at his legs underneath the large blanket that he was wrapped in. _My feet...somebody bandaged them!_ He reached down to touch them, and besides a few sore spots they appeared to be fine. When he tried to stand up however, he felt a burning sensation in his legs and immediately fell back into the futon he had been resting so peacefully on. _Damn! It hurts to even move them! _

As Naruto mentally cursed the pain running through his legs, he heard the chatter again.

"Sir...how long do you think he will not be able to walk?"

"I'm not a doctor, but I think about two or three weeks. That's just a guess knowing the extent of his injuries. He could be back up in a day, for all I know. Then again, he could never walk again."

"I see."

There was a pause in the conversation for a moment, then the man spoke again.

"Why don't you go in and introduce yourself? Our new friend would probably be happy to find out who it was who helped him make it through such terrible injuries?"

"M-m-me? No, s-sir. I..."

"It's alright, Hinata. I'll go in myself. You run along now, classes will probably be starting up again soon."

"Yes, sir."

Naruto heardfootsteps as one of the two people, probably the girl, walked away. A myriad of questions began to wander through his mind. Where was he? Was he safe? Where would he go when he could gain his strenghth to walk again? Would these people **_let _**him leave? He heard the door open slowly, and saw the man he had heard outside stepping through it. The man was lean and a little lanky, standing near six feet tall. Naruto couldn't guess with any certainty how old the man was mainly because he could hardly see any of his face. It was covered so that only about a third of it was visible, including a black eye that seemed calm and steady. His hair was grey and spiky mess and he wore a sort of black body suit with a hunter green vest.

"Good morning, child. My name is Hatake Kakashi. Welcome to Hell City."

Naruto stared at the man as if he had told him he was on the third moon of Jupiter. _Hell City? What is this guy babbling about? This is supposed to be Violet City **(A/N 1)**..._

"You look confused."

"Well...I had traveled pretty far here, from the west...and I was told that this place was called Violet City."

Kakashi cocked his head. "Actually, the city's **_official name _**is Violet City. Anyone who knows any better calls it Hell City, though."

Naruto curled up on the bed as best as he could (the pain in his legs wasn't as bad as earlier, but it still hurt like hell)and shot his benefactor a suspicious scowl. "Why is it called 'Hell City', anyway?"

Naruto could almost see the smile on the man's face. "You really don't wanna know, kid. Anyway, the building that your standing,or shouldI say sitting,in is a safe haven for children, called the Lost Star. It's a place for children who have nowhere else to go...or who want to escape some of the brutal neighborhoods. Some of them are orphans, others weresimply abandoned by their parents. Many of them have been abused and beaten. My colleagues and I run the entire place ourselves, from the education of the children to enforcement of rules."

Naruto started to let his guard down a little. For some reason, he felt like he could actually trust this man. Also the idea of children around him who were a lot like him piqued his interest.

"You are welcome to stay with us, if you wish."

**_Next time: Naruto gives Kakashi his answer and runs into some of the "Lost Star" orphans. Most of them are friendly enough, but others are no where near as friendly. _**

**_A/N 1: Violet City is the city that Naruto collapsed in during Chapter One. I had realized that the city (which will be the main setting for most of the story) didn't have a name yet and decided to go the "Pokemon-Color-A-City" route. _**

**I am extremely sorry that I could not update sooner. However, with a full-time job and full-time course load in college, it's been a drag to update. Now that I have a few weeks off from school, I should be able to not only update this story, but also stories in other sections or even another Naruto story. Hope you enjoyed, and criticism (as long as it is constructive) is welcome. Until I update again...**

**GOOD NIGHT NOW!**


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